The Shape of real estate inside the fridge
Point Forward’s study of family beverage habits led to a big innovation for the beverage industry. Before 2003, 12-packs of soft drink cans were configured in 3x4 cartons. The suitcase-like shape with a handle on top made it easy to grab off the store shelf and place into the shopping cart. But we found that its bulky shape made it difficult for people to keep their fridge stocked with cold, ready-to-drink sodas. We saw that consumers would return from the grocery store and leave multipacks in garages or laundry rooms. The opportunity was to manage soft drinks over the last 20 feet by simplifying the Tetris of fridge organization.
We orchestrated an immersive workshop with our clients, Alcoa and Graphic Packaging International, kicking off the session with a rallying cry: “Get cans in the fridge!” Studying dozens of refrigerator photographs, the team was inspired by how people store long and thin packages such as egg cartons: they slid them in length-wise which is perceived to take up less space. To help with ideation, we filled the room with five refrigerators, dozens of 12oz. cans, stacks of paperboard, and multiple rolls of duct tape. Dozens of concepts emerged, including a 2x6 configuration that would forever change beverage packaging: The Fridge Pack.
